This head artificer of Feixing Workshop was impossibly young. When he smiled, he exuded an aura as elegant as orchid and jade; looking at him, Lu Yin could not help but let a smile grace his lips as well.
In this state, he indeed carried a bit of Shi Zeyi’s flair in the realm of artifact refining from back then.
Regrettably, however, this was not the real Shi Zeyi—merely a puppet occasionally activated by Lu Yin using a secret technique, brought out to show its face whenever the identity of the “Workshop Master of Feixing Workshop” was required.
Lu Yin flicked a beam of light from his fingertip, and the puppet temporarily vanished.
Within the cavernous, empty hall, Lu Yin was left completely alone.
He let out a quiet sigh and sat down at the desk to begin handling various tedious affairs belonging to Feixing Workshop.
A long time passed until the horizon began to glow with the warm hues of sunset. Only then did he rise to his feet, unsealing the Ice Dust Crystal Mirror at his chest to release a projection.
In the projection, his own Dao companion’s face was filled with youthful sharpness. A high-bound ponytail swayed behind his head; far from looking like a workshop master, he resembled a high-spirited, noble prodigy riding a horse in fine robes, brimming with vibrant energy.
In a split second, memories drifted back to that world:
After establishing their relationship, every time Shi Zeyi saw Lu Yin, he would flash a brilliant smile, his ponytail swaying: “I’ve been waiting for you for so long!”
Lu Yin was constantly teased by him, so he couldn’t help but ask cautiously: “Shi Zeyi, you had better not be pulling another prank.”
Having been tortured until his waist ached by the man’s little mechanisms last time, he simply addressed this young yet brilliantly talented grandmaster artificer by his full name this time.
Yet Shi Zeyi wasn’t annoyed in the slightest, chuckling warmly: “Calling me so intimately—it seems Yinyin missed me!” His voice was that of a clear, bright youth.
Had it not been for his vibrant, youthful appearance, such greasy words would have probably earned him a beating from Lu Yin long ago. Yet precisely because of that sharp, youthful face, he somehow managed to sound entirely sincere.
Lu Yin shook his head, completely helpless against him.
Shi Zeyi smiled even more delightfully. With a flick of his finger, the grand doors behind Lu Yin slammed shut with a thunderous roar. The crystal lamps on both sides instantly ignited, revealing the breathtaking full view of the entire hall:
As it turned out, flanking the central red carpet sat dozens of massive mechanical beasts:
Saber-toothed tigers gleaming with silver light from top to bottom, giant tusked elephants cast in bronze, soaring eagles spreading their wings, and more. Through their outer frames, one could see the internal joint and gear structures—truly a masterpiece of divine workmanship, utterly ferocious and imposing.
Spirit stones were embedded in their foreheads. Though the stones were currently dim, it was not hard to imagine what a spectacular sight the hall would become once those spirit stones blazed to life.
A flicker of awe danced in Lu Yin’s eyes: This is…
Shi Zeyi threw his arms wide, his smile wild and uninhibited: “My newly developed ferocious beast puppets. How are they?”
He walked up to Lu Yin and threw an arm around his shoulders: “This is the zoo I specifically designed for you. If you ever get bored in the future, just come here to watch the animals.”
Lu Yin pried his arm off his shoulder: “I won’t be bored.”
Shi Zeyi blinked, suddenly pouncing forward to press close to Lu Yin’s ear, his warm breath fanning against Lu Yin’s ear: “I also incorporated a few little tricks into their design. If you and I sit on them together, we can… when the ferocious beasts leap and bound, it will certainly have a… unique flavor…”
Lu Yin listened until his pupils dilated. He truly had no idea how Shi Zeyi could say such shameless, utterly scandalous words while wearing such an innocent, youthful face.
Or rather, perhaps it was precisely that young, vibrant face that made Shi Zeyi’s words sound so credible—and even carried a sort of naive cruelty.
The small mole near the corner of Lu Yin’s lip trembled slightly as he said, “Are you truly a pervert to such an extent?”
“Eh?” Shi Zeyi feigned surprise. “Yinyin is praising me! If I don’t test it out on the spot, wouldn’t I be letting Yinyin down?!”
Saying so, he used his vice-like arms to hoist Lu Yin up directly, dragging him straight toward the saber-toothed tiger.
Lu Yin struggled frantically, but it was all in vain—setting aside the fact that Shi Zeyi was at the late Nascent Soul stage himself, merely from long years of forging and artifact refining, he had long cultivated a terrifying strength. Even a body cultivator of the same tier might not beat him in physical strength, let alone Lu Yin, who was purely a spell cultivator.
Snow-white collars wrinkled miserably beneath Shi Zeyi’s large palms, yet they received no mercy as they were gripped and squeezed tightly. Lu Yin felt like a heap of fiercely struggling fresh snow forced to dance within walls of bronze and iron: “Shi Zeyi! Do not go too far!”
Yet the grandmaster artificer with the youthful face called out clingily: “Yinyin! Yinyin! We haven’t seen each other in so long, just play with me for a bit!” He called out so sweetly and affectionately—who could have guessed that the direction he was half-dragging and half-hugging Lu Yin toward might actually be the most terrifying instrument of torture?!
The events that followed were simply too painful to recall. Right at that moment, a sudden gust of wild wind swept through the hall, instantly extinguishing the Nine-Dragon Everlasting Candles. Between the blue skies and white clouds outside the pavilion, a faint dragon roar echoed over.
The dragon’s roar drew closer and closer like a passing gale. A massive, bronze flood dragon head poked its way into the building, its two eyes as large as carriage wheels, the spirit stone array on its forehead glowing with a deep red light.
“Bronze Corrosion Dragon?” Lu Yin was startled. This was the guardian artifact of Feixing Workshop, which he had specifically sent out to patrol and guard the surrounding sea area.
In the next second, the mechanical flood dragon opened its massive maw and spat a person out!
It was Su Li!
Lu Yin hurriedly unleashed a gust of gentle wind to catch his disciple and help him stand: “Su Li, why are you here?!”
Su Li was also somewhat surprised: “Master, weren’t you meeting with the Workshop Master of Feixing Workshop…”
Lu Yin’s mind shifted, and the Workshop Master puppet reappeared, stepping out from behind the screen in the back. It naturally leaned in close to Lu Yin, saying: “So this is your disciple. Huh, I sent the Bronze Corrosion Dragon out to patrol and guard the perimeter outside—how did it bring a person back?” He narrowed his eyes. “The Bronze Corrosion Dragon recognized its master long ago. No one other than its master is allowed to ride it. How did you hitch a ride on this dragon and climb your way up here?”
This Workshop Master puppet spoke rather abrasively—this was because Lu Yin had deliberately set its speaking habits differently from his own to minimize the chance of being exposed.
Unaware of this, Su Li glared at the distance between the young Workshop Master and Lu Yin. He subtly used a clever bit of force to pull his Master slightly closer to his own side before explaining what had transpired earlier:
As it turned out, a short while ago, Su Li had intended to return to his cabin with the other disciples of Linghua Sect to rest, only to see Meng Xuan walking over, surrounded by a group of disciples.
“Senior Brother, we’re planning to check out the bazaar on the third floor to make some preparations before entering the secret realm. Why don’t you come with us?” Meng Xuan offered with a radiant smile.
Su Li replied, “Master instructed us to return to our cabins and rest.”
Meng Xuan pouted with a aggrieved look: “But the people from other sects have all gone! If we don’t prepare well, what will we do?”
The other disciples chimed in as well: “That’s right, that’s right! They know quite a bit about our talismans and spells, but if they hunt down good treasures at the bazaar while we remain completely in the dark, won’t we end up at a disadvantage in the secret realm?”
As Su Li pondered, a few Red Blood Lake disciples happened to pass by. The one leading them was none other than the rising star, Wu Kai. Seeing Su Li, his expression instantly stiffened.
The Red Blood Lake disciple beside him caught the look on his face, rested a hand on his sword, and mocked: “It’s fine! If your pockets are really too empty, you don’t have to go!”
“Here I thought the Linghua Sect prided itself as the number one sect under heaven. Who would’ve thought that at a time like this, you couldn’t even pull out a few spirit stones? Haha, how amusing!”
“We, Red Blood Lake, will gladly take first place in the Qingpeng Secret Realm then! Thanks for stepping aside!”
The Linghua Sect disciples glared at them angrily: “You guys!”
“What? Want to fight?” Several Red Blood Lake disciples drew their flying swords halfway out, exposing a gleaming length of white blade light, their faces practically screaming: ‘Excited! Come on, hit me!’ Sword cultivators were perhaps the least afraid of getting into a brawl.
In this narrow airship docking bay, they held the advantage.
Amidst the tense situation, the youth in fish-white robes trimmed with silver thread let out a low chuckle. His voice was deeply magnetic, instantly drawing everyone’s attention as he spoke:
“Defeated dogs bark often—must we bark back at them?”
These words were directed at his own fellow disciples, yet they blatantly mocked the disciples of Red Blood Lake.
“You!”
“Who are you calling a dog?!”
The faces of the Red Blood Lake disciples flushed to the exact shade of their own red robes.
“Whoever answers is the one I am talking about,” Su Li replied with an amiable, gentle demeanor, though every word he uttered was more infuriating than the last.
Arguments were all about piercing the opponent’s soft spots—he wasn’t about to get entangled with them over ridiculous squabbles like “whether they had enough spirit stones.”
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, whoever struck first would be the one instigating trouble. While shielding his junior brothers and sisters behind his back, Su Li watched the opposing side jump in anger with a cold smirk.
What a joke. Back when he, Suli, was mixing with street beggars, who knew where these so-called holy prodigies were?
Was this all they had?
If they brought trouble to his doorstep first, then they couldn’t blame him for making them suffer a bit more.
Sure enough, the executive elders of the three major sects seemed to have sensed something and rushed over: “Hey, over there! What are you shouting about?!”
Red Blood Lake’s Wu Kai had an extremely grim look on his face. With a flick of his scabbard, a burst of sword Qi forced his junior brothers back: “Enough, all of you! Stop embarrassing yourselves!” With that, he flicked his red robe and headed downstairs first.
Since their rising star had left, the other disciples naturally had to follow. They forcefully jammed their swords back into their sheaths and swallowed their anger with a growl: “Just you wait!” then chased after their top disciple.
A complete victory.
The disciples looked up at Su Li with admiration: “Senior Brother is still the best!”
This was the issue with disciples from major sects—having had smooth sailing ever since embarking on the path of cultivation, along with heavy protection from their elders, their minds were far too pure and naive. Su Li shook his head helplessly: Experiencing a bit more of this is good for them; once they leave the sect to travel in the future, such encounters will be endless.
In a flash of thought, Su Li suddenly realized that Master was the same. Though he appeared cold and lofty as the moon, his heart was actually far too innocent. If not for his formidable cultivation standing as a barrier, who knew if he would have been tricked away, kidnapped, and imprisoned to be humiliated at someone’s whim long ago…
He had to grow strong as quickly as possible to protect Master properly. Thinking this, Su Li spoke: “If everyone has sufficient spirit stones, shall we go check out the Feixing Workshop bazaar together?”
“Hooray!” The disciples cheered.
The Feixing Workshop bazaar was located on the third floor of the cloud pavilion. Open on all four sides, it was divided into several large areas by screens and balustrades, each selling different artifact refining materials. The stall owners did not all hail from Feixing Workshop either; many were independent vendors who had passed Feixing Workshop’s inspection and come specifically to set up shop.
Of course, their access was strictly limited to the third floor and the residential zone on the second floor.
Thus, the disciples of the various sects not only saw a dazzling array of goods, but also encountered a wide variety of stall owners—among whom were even demons wearing veiled hats.
Meng Xuan and the other disciples were instantly overwhelmed upon entering. Having spent years cultivating peacefully within the Linghua Sect where even their clothes were sect-issued, when had they ever seen such a bustling, lively scene? They could barely wait to scurry off and explore every inch of the place.
Su Li, however, first collected several transmission bells from Feixing Workshop and distributed them to everyone: “Input a stream of spiritual energy to make the bells resonate with one another. That way, if something happens to one person, the others will quickly ring as well.”
“Form groups of five, do not wander off alone. Report your status in one hour, and gather back here in two hours.”
Meng Xuan and the others marvelled: “Senior Brother is always so thorough!” One by one, like butterflies fluttering into a flower field, they scattered and flew off.
Su Li, however, looked at the bronze bell at his fingertips, lost in thought: This thing is small yet immensely useful. If only it could be brought into the secret realm.
The bronze bell was engraved with patterns of auspicious beasts and cloud motifs. As Su Li stared at it, his face suddenly flushed red—disaster, he suddenly remembered that string of tiny silver bells on his Master’s ankle…
Could those be transmission bells as well?
When that slightly pinkish ankle was held in that scorching, large palm, ringing those bells—who was he trying to let listen?
If I could secretly hang a transmission bell on Master… would I be able to uncover the identities of all those dog men…